As my physical collection grows, I am attempting to use the opportunity to 1/ cross off some titles from big name directors, and 2/ push myself to watch older titles I would have otherwise not seen.
I picked up Raging Bull as part of the Criterion flash sale a few weeks back knowing it would help me achieve both goals. Now that I finally had a good chance to watch (and not fall asleep) and boy was it a ride.
To be honest I was kind of struggling with the balance of tracking the timeline, picking up on the little details of mob ties, and mix of story vs chaos in the ring. Regardless I could appreciate what Marty had put together in its entirety because it was controlled, chaotic, and outright beautiful. De Niro is also sensational. As I see more of his earlier work, I see why he really was considered so generational. Nowadays he really just plays himself over and over.
Where I struggled, Criterion helped fill the gaps. The entire film felt very focused on feeling like you are part of Jake’s experience. No hand holding at all. Just back and forth of all his personas. But I’m not sure I would’ve understood this or conceptualized it without the supplemental content Criterion provided.
I spent almost an extra hour and half after the movie ended just watching all the interviews, video essays, etc. Without this added context I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed or appreciated this work as much as I do now writing this the morning after.
Looking forward to more physical media watches and getting closer to seeing all of Scorsese’s work.
As my physical collection grows, I am attempting to use the opportunity to 1/ cross off some titles from big name directors, and 2/ push myself to watch older titles I would have otherwise not seen.
I picked up Raging Bull as part of the Criterion flash sale a few weeks back knowing it would help me achieve both goals. Now that I finally had a good chance to watch (and not fall asleep) and boy was it a ride.
To be honest I was kind of struggling with the balance of tracking the timeline, picking up on the little details of mob ties, and mix of story vs chaos in the ring. Regardless I could appreciate what Marty had put together in its entirety because it was controlled, chaotic, and outright beautiful. De Niro is also sensational. As I see more of his earlier work, I see why he really was considered so generational. Nowadays he really just plays himself over and over.
Where I struggled, Criterion helped fill the gaps. The entire film felt very focused on feeling like you are part of Jake’s experience. No hand holding at all. Just back and forth of all his personas. But I’m not sure I would’ve understood this or conceptualized it without the supplemental content Criterion provided.
I spent almost an extra hour and half after the movie ended just watching all the interviews, video essays, etc. Without this added context I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed or appreciated this work as much as I do now writing this the morning after.
Looking forward to more physical media watches and getting closer to seeing all of Scorsese’s work.
